I have a Ranchu and he seems to swim ok however when he stops he floats to the surface and has to try hard to swim to the bottom.. What is causing this and how do I cure it?
First of all can you post test results in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph,sound like swim bladder, try a shelled pea and daphnia first, and add some salt to the tank.
Yes swim bladder does kill, if you can catch it early the odds are abit better, try a birdeye frozen type put in boiling water for a minute, let cool them pop the pea out of it shell try a few of them on the fish, also what do you feed the ranchu goldfish.
It helps if you can feed them a varied diet as swim bladder can be caused by two many dry foods, so peas and veg and bloodworm and other frozen foods as well as the flakes and make sure the flakes have soaked in the water a couple of seconds before the fish get them.